Allan Appel Photo
Blumenthal, Harp with center’s Esperina Stubblefield, Paola Serrecchia.
A pioneering center to help victims of domestic violence has cut its ceremonial blue ribbon and opened in downtown New Haven, not far from the the courthouse.
Its innovation is to be a one-stop shop, with all confidential services for the abused women and their kids centralized under one roof.
That includes, surprisingly, help not just for battering victims but for batterers. They are, after all, likely to commit violence again unless they need help. And they’re often daddies.
That insight emerged at a warm celebration Monday afternoon at 142 Temple St., where the HOPE Family Justice Center of Greater New Haven formally opened.
Asst. Chief Karl Jacobson, project coordinator Julie Johnson, and site manager Paola Serrecchia.
Nearly 100 people from political and municipal officials to current and past police brass along with representatives from more than a dozen of the center’s nonprofit partners thronged the third floor of the office building to hail the long awaited wraparound, trauma-informed services that are now offered there to victims of domestic violence.
Read here for a story about the center’s philosophy and its fundraising efforts last year, and the long road traveled in order to create in New Haven the best-practice family justice center, patterned on a model first developed in San Diego in 2002
The idea is to have under one roof, or within easy access, police, prosecutors, lawyers, day care assistance, shelter beds, and therapists of all kinds, including those who will help abuser as well as a victim.
The center is partnering with organizations like Fathers for Change that will provide off-site services for abusers, and they will be located off-site, away from the center itself, officials said.
The new center’s offices, which celebrants toured after the speeches, on one side of floor feature rooms for confidential conversations with prosecutors, cops, and counselors. On the other side are lounge and kitchen areas, intake and administrative offices, including a space for kids to build Lego castles and read My Little Pony adventures while their parents speak with the center’s professional staff.
There is also a shelter for victims at an undisclosed off-site location..
Asst. Police Chief Karl Jacobson was one of many speakers hailing the new resource as a positive arm of community policing in New Haven.
Officer Motzer and Det. Carr.
“The number of resources housed here is very impressive,” Jacobson said. He recalled his own years a young officer and added, “We do well with arresting people. But after that is when it really starts. Services [like this] are priceless. We need to serve our victims better. We’re making a commitment to this place.”
True to his word, among the greeters at the center’s doors on Temple Street were Officer Nicole Motzer and Det. Cherelle Carr, the lead officer in the NHPD’s family services unit dealing with domestic violence, missing persons, and child abuse.
“You join the force to help people,” said Jacobson. “I’m going to encourage all the young officers to come here. We’re 110 percent in.”
The center, which is under the larger nonprofit umbrella of BH Care, is only one of two following the family justice center model in the state.
It is the only one with a program to assist the batterers as well as the victims, said Tanisha Rawlinson, the the state Department of Children and Families’ intimate partner violence specialist for New Haven. “Lots of batterers area also dads, ” she said, “so how do we help him?”
Last year DCF’s hotline received 107,00 calls about child abuse and neglect, said Bureau Chief for External Affairs Ken Mysogland.
“Most people don’t choose to behave that way. That behavior was learned. Unless he gets help too, he’ll go from family to family,” he said.
BHCare President and CEO Roberta Cook credited Julie Johnson, who retired as an NHPD police captain in 2016, as the person with the doggedness, charisma, and police and other connections citywide to take the project from vision to official opening day.
The center will service 19 towns, roughly from Ansonia to Madison, said Esperina Stubblefield, BHCare’s program director.
She said the organization sees about 6,000 clients a year, with roughly 4,000 coming from New Haven. With the opening of the new office, “we expect the number of clients to increase 15 to 20 percent,” she said.
A National Health Emergency
The center’s three musketeers, Johnson, Serreccchia, and Stubblefield.
Mayor Harp called domestic violence “a social epidemic that cannot be allowed to stand in our society. A third of the criminal cases in Connecticut are related to domestic violence. That’s why I call it an epidemic. We’ve made great progress in reducing murders in our city. Seven [murders] is the best [among cities] in the state, and half of those are due to domestic violence. We must do better. This gives us hope.”
In his remarks New Haven State’s Attorney Pat Griffin echoed the mayor. “Intimate partner violence is a national health issue. This center sends a message: ‘You are not alone!’” Griffin said.
The office, which has two large suites on the third floor, is open during regular business hours. The area domestic violence hotline, where contact can be initiated, is staffed 24 hours: 1 – 888-774‑2900.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal arrived late for the gathering but he had a good reason: “I juts came from a rally in Hartford against gun violence. While the nation focuses on mass shootings, it’s as much about domestic family justice. This day is momentous for our state.”